Tough Week
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: The week that Josh decides he is done, Drake struggles not to fall apart. Set during and post "Josh Is Done".


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Drake and Josh, and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

**Author's Note**: I've been on a Drake and Josh kick for the past few days, and can't stop watching Josh Is Done - Especially the meltdown in class. There's a reason it's my favorite episode, and I had to write about it again. Enjoy!

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><p>Drake and Josh have never fought like this before, and it worries their family. Audrey tries to talk to Josh, to get him to forgive Drake, but he refuses to budge. That's when she and Walter realize that this isn't going to end well at all and the fallout will be bad.<p>

By day three, Drake is starting to drive Audrey, Walter, and Megan crazy, and Josh has switched places at the dinner table. There's awkwardness there now that Walter tries his best to fill. "Did I tell you that it's supposed to rain tomorrow?"

"You mentioned it three times in the past fifteen minutes." Megan rolls her eyes at her stepfather. Drake and Josh usually keep them all entertained, but looks like that's not going to be happening anytime soon. Drake isn't talking much at all, while Josh won't stop talking about his day to anyone that will listen. He's pointedly ignoring his brother.

"Who wants dessert?" Audrey made the boys' favorite cake in hopes it'd get them to reconcile, but she knows that it's unlikely. She and Walter have to let this play out, and hopefully it won't last any longer than it already has.

"I'm not hungry." Drake sounds angry, which has been his default setting since Josh told him he was done with him.

"I don't want any either." Josh excuses himself from the table and heads upstairs to get ready for work. Drake waits until he leaves to return to their room. The bed has been his refuge, and he doesn't want to leave it.

As soon as school lets out, Drake returns home because he doesn't feel like going anywhere. Audrey loves her son, she does, but he's constantly underfoot and driving her up the wall. She's not used to this since Drake and Josh keep themselves busy.

By Friday, Audrey is ready to intervene in her sons' fight. This is the longest they've ever argued, and she can tell it's taking a huge toll on Drake. He hasn't mentioned any girls at all or gone out at all, which is very rare. Even when he was sick and in the hospital, he was hitting on his nurses. She's starting to get angry with Josh for the way he's treating Drake, but Walter assures her that everything will be back to normal soon. She reluctantly believes her husband and doesn't do anything.

On Saturday, Audrey's had enough. She decides to literally bribe Drake out of the house. He's been sitting on the couch all day, doing nothing. The TV isn't even on, and he's been like that since he woke up. She grabs money from her wallets and hands it to her son. "Here! Go do anything you want! I don't want you in the house."

"Where do you want me to go?" Drake's staring at the money like he can't believe his mother actually paid him to leave the house. Audrey can't believe she's done this either, but enough is enough.

"Go see a movie. I don't care!" She ushers Drake out of the house and breathes a sigh of relief when she sits down on the couch herself.

Drake is furious when Josh calls security and has him escorted out of The Premiere. "I don't need him!" He doesn't know why he's yelling at the security guard, but he has to take his anger out on someone. But since the car has no gas, Drake has to walk home. "Fuck him! I don't need Josh!" Drake slams the door behind when he gets home.

"What are you doing back so soon?" Walter stares at his son. He's worried about his boys, but he thinks they'll be fine eventually. Drake and Josh are inseparable. Josh is going to forgive him eventually. And Audrey mentioned the other day that she thinks the boys are co-dependent and that it isn't healthy, but Walter doesn't think that matters much. So what if the boys are close?

"Tickets are ten dollars so I couldn't get in. And then Josh called fucking security on me and then said I wasn't his friend! Who the fuck does he think he is? He needs me! I don't need him at all! He'll see! And then he didn't put gas in the car, so I had to walk to the movie theater and then back home!"

Audrey usually yells at Drake for his language, but she can't find it in her heart to do this time. Not when her son is clearly falling apart right in front of their eyes. "Drake, why don't you go upstairs and get changed? Walter and I were just about to watch a movie by ourselves. You can join us."

"Whatever." Drake sits down for ten minutes before he can't stand being near his parents anymore and then he bolted back upstairs to his bedroom. He doesn't even bother to get into pajamas, and falls asleep in his clothes and shoes.

On Sunday, Josh goes out with Craig and Eric again, while Drake refuses to even leave their bedroom. Audrey tries to send food up with Megan, but he keeps claiming that he doesn't want to eat. The lack of appetite is extremely worrying, but she can't force him to eat if he doesn't want to.

On Monday, things finally come to a head. Drake breaks apart and pours his heart out to his brother. Josh wants to run after his brother, but he doesn't even know what to say. He didn't realize he was hurting Drake this bad, and now he feels guilty. The guilt worsens once Josh comes to the conclusion that he's hurt his brother a whole lot worse than Drake hurt him.

When Drake bursts through the door, soaking wet and obviously crying, Audrey and Walter are sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper. "Drake, you okay?" Walter worriedly eyes his son.

"I'm fine." Drake is clearly lying and he bolts towards the bathroom.

"Damn it. I should have expected this." Audrey can't even be mad her son has skipped school, not when he's this upset. She just hopes the fight will be over after this, or else she'll give Josh hell for treating Drake like this. His behavior has been unacceptable, and she should have stepped in earlier.

"Aud, don't blame yourself. And I'll be talking to Josh once this is all over. This never should have happened." Walter feels like an ass for not talking to his son earlier. He just figured that the situation would resolve itself, like it always did.

Audrey checks in on Drake at various points throughout the day. She doesn't know why Drake is lying on the ping pong table, but she doesn't question it.

Drake has been falling apart at the seams all week and he can't take it anymore. Curling up on the ping pong table seemed like a good plan after his shower, but he's actually pretty uncomfortable. However, he refuses to move. He doesn't have the energy to do anything.

When Josh finally arrives at home, he is greeted by two angry parents. "Joshua, I am so disappointed in you." Audrey would say more, but she's so angry she doesn't want to say something she regrets.

"I know. I'm going to apologize now. Is Drake upstairs?" He wanted to get home sooner, but there were some after school commitments he couldn't get out of, no matter how hard he tried. The guilt has worsened with each passing minute, but he knows the perfect way to make everything up to his brother.

Walter nods, and Josh heads upstairs. Megan glares at him. "Fix what you did!" The only other time she saw her brother like this was right after their father left, and she doesn't like it.

"I am!" Josh starts a game of ping pong as soon as he enters the room, and lets Drake win a few games. However, he can tell his brother isn't completely over everything that happened yet.

"Hey, you want to watch TV downstairs?" Drake is desperate to have everything go back to normal because he needs it. He's still not feeling himself, and the cold feeling that's been his constant companion is fading, but is still there.

"Sure. Hey, Drake?"

"Yeah?"

"I just want to say I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I was hurting you this much. I honestly never meant to. I was rightfully upset, but I shouldn't have cut you out of my life like that."

"It's okay." Drake gives a watery smile and tries to will the tears back down. He cried enough earlier, and doesn't want to do it again.

"And you're not the worst brother in the world. You're actually a pretty awesome one." Josh beams at him, and then the two brothers hug.

Audrey, Walter, and Megan are all extremely relieved when Drake and Josh come down the stairs, laughing. The boys are a little awkward for the next two days, but then they're back to normal. They're DrakeandJosh again, and all is right in the world for the first time in over a week.

Drake freaks the next time they fight, convinced that Josh's going to be done with him again, but they make up almost immediately.

Nothing will be able to tear Drake and Josh apart. They can get through anything and they're stronger together.

And no other fight will be as bad as the time Josh decided he was done with Drake. They never want to repeat the week from hell again.


End file.
